The Awaiting Journey
by Kristian Sparrow
Summary: Jack Sparrow's youngest son, Kristian Sparrow, has found himself in deeper troubles. His past was a blur, and almost everyone he meets is a threat! A runaway at age 12, Kristian sees that Jack is the idol in his life and wants to be like him. Jack lets him follow his dreams, sensing the boy off without anything but the clothes on his back! What happens next? Will he survive?


The Awaiting Journey

Written and Illustrated by: Kyraia A. Padua

Chapter 1: Just A Stray Child

The breeze blew gently across with the salty air that came from the sea. It smelled fishy, but Tortuga was a pirate town, so everything smelled either of fish or rum. Outcasts, orphans, forgotten sailors, and pirates went about their daily lives sailing and docking at port for a living. Some folk gathered around the small hovels that rested around every space of land the merchants could set up in. When one merchant moved out, was forced out of business, or died, he or she gave up a scrap of land that led to quarrels between newcomers. Merchants weren't the only fighters, obviously, they were more of the lower class fighters. The main fights that brought attention to everyone's eye belonged to pirates and sailors. They'd drink about half a gallon before going off against each other in a bar or outside in their own homes. Blasted pirates never give up on simple things, and sailors never cared about anything but themselves.

One pirate, one of the unknown legends, was Kristianna Drunken Sparrow. Kristianna, or Kristian as he'd like to be called, was born a female, but eventually realized he was also half male. He resented the term 'hermaphrodite' and preferred to be called a man. Due to his sad gender situation, Kristian was made fun of as a child and disowned at the age of seven. His mother is unknown to this day while his father is known as the infamous pirate Capt. Jack Sparrow. Kristian is not truly Jack Sparrow's son, at least he believes he is not, but the captain does not complain. Instead, he chose to raise the child and his brothers as if they were his own, creating an unsafe environment for parenthood.

As Kristian and his brothers grew, each had their own insights of their life. Eleven sons, and removing Kristian, ten sons. Oscar is the oldest, seeing that he is the more fatherly one of his brothers. Roderick is second oldest, and chose the life of a charter after changing his name to Stern. He was also in love with orchestral music and dreamed to one day be the best composer in all the world. The first pair of twins, Bryan and Ryan, were born conjoined at the middle of their outer shins. Bryan is the oldest of the two and stood on the left while the younger, Ryan, stood on the right. Both men decided to be street performers and dazzle children of all ages with their strange birth defect. Another street performer was Louie, the musician of the lot. He loved playing his trombone for his siblings, and believed that playing for money was the life for him. Finnegan was a sensible man who enjoyed engineering and ship-building. He started building small rowboats and eventually started selling them, creating larger scales to fit the need of his clients. Diego was one of Jack Sparrow's sons from Spain, and hoped that one day he would sail back to his home country to start a life with a lucky woman. Johnathan was a timid man, and decided to stay with his father to study the ways of a pirate a little longer. George was also a quiet person, but he despised the fact he came from a pirate, and wished to renew himself by joining the British Navy. The youngest of the eleven was Kristian and his twin Danick. Both males enjoyed the life of adventure, but Danick was similar to George, and went along with his older brother to Britain. Kristian stayed behind and ran off at the age of twelve to show his family that he could be whatever he wanted to be, when he wanted to do it.

The male was now fifteen, and he was still the same man he was when he left. Kristian was irresponsible and reckless, knowing that he was a foolish boy to begin with. He sat in the tavern at his usual table, drinking away his sins just as other mother's son would. It had been a long day, he felt, and boy will it be a longer day tomorrow. He finished his drink and slammed the empty mug onto the rounded wooden table to see another face staring back at him.

It was one of his few friends, Kleo. The dark red hair was brushed away from his face by the woman's soft, pale hands.

"Oh Kristian...It won't be long before you have killed yourself." She cooed with a small grin. Kristian shook his head and pulled her hand away from his face, grunting.  
>"You've said that every bloody time I come back to this god-for-saken place..." Kristian murmured, looking away. The ginger haired woman sighed and place the empty mug on her tray. Standing up, Kleo walked back past him and rubbed his back before fetching her friend another drink. While she was pouring him another round, Kristian pulled out his map from the inside of his vest and studied it, trying to ignore the markings he had already made. He leaned his head on his right hand and rested his elbow on the table for support. The candle flame flickered at the movement as the ginger returned with his drink. Kleo set the mug in front of him before sitting down herself. He looked up and tilted his head at the drink.<br>"I thought you said I should stop drinking." Kristian stated, taking a few gulps in.

"No I haven't. I was warning you about your drinking. How long have you been here again?" Kleo asked while tossing her head.

The pirate grumbled and set the mug back on the table while wiping his bottom lip. He was too drunk to even concentrate on his map, and stuffed it back into his dirty navy blue vest. Looking around, Kristian saw that he was alone with Kleo and sat back into his chair.

"Since I have been back in town... The Sea Dogs haven't been givin' me any help. Hell, Kara ain't helpin' me no more either!" He yelled pulling the mug too forcefully that he hit his lip against teeth. Kristian cursed angrily before forcing himself to drink down the blood along with his rum. The female hated seeing her friends upset, but Kristian was an exception. She always saw him in a bad mood.

"It's because of that attitude! Have you no patience? What made you so cruel?"

"My attitude is the same as any other pirate's on this spit of land they call home!"

"They? They? We all live on this island! You are one of us, are you not?"

"I am not one of you! I refuse to stay here any longer!"

"Not one of us? You are human just like every other poxy curr that I have met!"

"Oh, so I'm a curr now am I?"

"Actually Kristian, I'm curious, why do you think Kara has stopped talking to you? Why?"

"She... She just doesn't! Besides, who are you to tell me what's wrong with me? It's my life, Kleo, and you have no say in it!" Kristian yelled, standing up and slamming his fists on the table. The gingers flinched at the sudden anger of her friend, seeing that he was cold on the inside as well. Tears formed within her eyes as she gathered up the courage to look him in the eye.

"If it truly is your life, I see that I have no intent to be in it. You have my word on that, Kristian Sparrow," The ginger stated, "Consider this friendship over."

With those words, Kleo walked up to her room, leaving Kristian standing in the tavern alone with the flickering light of the candle. He stood there, leaning his hands against the table, staring at his half-empty mug. The rim closest to him was still stained with his blood, but he wiped it off before finishing off his drink. Kristian grunted in regret.

'What in God's name is wrong with me...' He thought to himself. 'Me and my stupid mouth!' The pirate didn't bother to pay, knowing that Kleo didn't want any memory of him or his stupid back-talk. He walked throughout the town by himself, in the dark. The pirate brushed his maroon-colored hair away from his eyes and squinted, looking for any small spark of light. He saw none and knew that he'd have to sleep in his kip again. His kip was nothing more of a crate that he was able to fit into filled with ropes and scraps of fabric he stole for warmth.

Kristian jumped into the crate and made himself comfortable in the rings of rope. He wasn't at all happy with where he slept, or what he decided as a child. Damned and alone, he laid there in his kip, covering himself with his old coat and map. The breeze was strong at night, but the crate kept most of it out. As soon as the pirate got in the best position he could possibly get in, he covered the top of the crate loosely, so he was still able to breathe. Kristian gave a deep sigh before closing his eyes and waiting for the ocean waves to lull him to sleep.

His dreams filled with thoughts of happiness and joy with his family, seeing that he needed his father more than anyone else in the world. His brothers weren't in Tortuga, at least he thought they weren't, and he was always ashamed of himself when even thinking they'd want him back home. It was too late, five years too late. Kristian hugged his knees closer to his chest and sobbed to himself. His sobbing turned into crying that eventually became whimpers of loneliness and sorrow. Within minutes, Kristian Sparrow cried himself to sleep.

Hours passed, and cold rain began to fall. Now, Kristian was sleeping, and he didn't know that his crate was slowly shifting down the side of the town - down, down, down towards the sea. The speed began to increase and the crate began to rock and shake, waking the young pirate up. Kristian's head jolted up at the sudden bump of his kip hitting a side stone and shaking, eyes widening at the rain. The crate hit another stone, making the entire wooden box tip over and tumble downward faster to the sea. Kristian did his best to push open the crate's top, but the ropes and his coat kept falling on top of him. He could smell the salt and hear the waves crashing against the shore. Desperate, Kristian began calling for help as he was tossed to and fro inside of the crate. His fists banged against the walls of his kip-of-death as he yelled. No on heard his screams in the rain besides himself. In all the madness, his screams were silenced with the deathly sound of a loud splash.


End file.
